Alex Yablon

Alex Yablon was a reporter and a founding staffer at The Trace.

The Extraordinary Burden Placed on Sutherland Springs

Mass Shooting

The Extraordinary Burden Placed on Sutherland Springs

Of all the mass shootings to shock our country in the last several decades, few have placed a greater stress on the community they afflicted than last Sunday’s church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, population 600. The First Baptist Church,…

Alex Yablon
Domestic Violence

Here’s the Document That Should Have Prevented Devin Kelley From Buying Guns

One line of text in a document released after Sunday’s mass shooting in Texas should have stopped Devin Kelley from buying the guns he is thought to have used in the massacre. A crystal-clear warning on a now infamous,…

Alex Yablon
UPDATE: Clarifying Our Reporting on the Military, Domestic Violence Records, and Gun Background Checks

Background Checks

UPDATE: Clarifying Our Reporting on the Military, Domestic Violence Records, and Gun Background Checks

A year before committing Sunday’s mass shooting in a tight-knit church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, suspect Devin Kelley walked into a sporting goods store to buy a Ruger assault style rifle he should have been banned from owning because of…

James Burnett and Alex Yablon
The End of DNAinfo and Gothamist Is a Loss for Local Coverage of Gun Violence

Commentary

The End of DNAinfo and Gothamist Is a Loss for Local Coverage of Gun Violence

The abrupt demise of DNAInfo and the Gothamist chain of local news blogs sent shockwaves through their cities’ media ecosystems. The outlets helped fill a news hole left by the closing or shrinking of legacy print newspapers in New…

Alex Yablon
ATF to Chicago: Your Release of Detailed Crime Gun Data Was Prohibited Under Federal Law

Chicago

ATF to Chicago: Your Release of Detailed Crime Gun Data Was Prohibited Under Federal Law

"Burying your head in the sand won't change the truth and it won't solve the problem," a mayoral spokesman responds.

Alex Yablon
NRA Picks Fight With Parents Who Called for Gun-Free Halloween Costumes

Alex Yablon

NRA Picks Fight With Parents Who Called for Gun-Free Halloween Costumes

When Amanda Hanig and Jordon Gillis started encouraging their neighbors in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to choose costumes that don’t involve guns this Halloween, they didn’t expect to court outrage. Motivated by the Las Vegas mass shooting, the couple saw…

Alex Yablon
Extremism

“White Lives Matter” Rallies Have Tennessee Towns Scrambling to Restrict Guns

This Saturday, a range of avowed white-nationalist groups plan to descend on the Tennessee cities of Shelbyville and Murfreesboro for “White Lives Matter” rallies many fear could turn violent like the demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August.

Alex Yablon
At Least 2,900 Americans Have Been Shot Since Las Vegas. Congress Has Already Lost Interest.

Mass Shooting

At Least 2,900 Americans Have Been Shot Since Las Vegas. Congress Has Already Lost Interest.

It’s been 25 days since the October 1 massacre in Las Vegas, the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. In that time, at least 2,920 more people have been shot across America, 906 of them fatally, according to the…

Jennifer Mascia and Alex Yablon
White Nationalists Arrested for Shooting Into Crowd After Richard Spencer Speech in Florida

Shooting

White Nationalists Arrested for Shooting Into Crowd After Richard Spencer Speech in Florida

Police in Gainesville arrested three men for in connection with a shooting following an appearance on Thursday afternoon by the white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida. The men, who traveled from Texas to attend Spencer’s controversial…

Alex Yablon
Concealed Carry

Looser Concealed-Carry Standards Are Linked to Higher Gun-Homicide Rates

States that give concealed-weapons licenses to anyone who meets basic criteria have higher homicide rates than those that require people to demonstrate good character or a real need to walk around armed, according to a new study. Public health…

Alex Yablon
Gun Safety

The NRA’s Gun Safety Program for Children Is Ineffective, Government Review Finds

Children who received instruction in gun safety were no more likely than those who did not to heed basic rules about what to do if they came across a gun — like leaving the room or notifying an adult —…

Alex Yablon
Gun Theft

Amid Rise in Burglaries of Gun Stores, California’s Governor Vetoes Anti-Theft Bill

Last year, the number of gun stores burglarized in the United States rose to record-breaking levels as growing ranks of criminals used the crudest smash-and-grab methods to break into firearms dealers and make off with weapons. The number of burglaries…

Alex Yablon
These Six Barely Legal Gun Products Are Still Widely Available

The Business of Guns

These Six Barely Legal Gun Products Are Still Widely Available

Bump stocks are hard to find, but retailers are selling plenty of other devices that skirt the edges of federal law.

Alex Yablon
Extremism

Arkansas Bust Is Latest Example of Right-Wing Extremists Arrested for Violating Gun Laws

Police in Arkansas say nine of the 44 people arrested in a drug and weapons investigation this Wednesday were member of local white-supremacist gangs. Twenty-five pounds of methamphetamine and 69 firearms were seized in the operation, the latest of many…

Alex Yablon
Charlottesville Sues to Keep Out Militias and Armed White Nationalists

Extremism

Charlottesville Sues to Keep Out Militias and Armed White Nationalists

Americans were shocked by more than the hate speech at a Unite the Right demonstration in the university town of Charlottesville, Virginia, this August. Also unsettling for many was the sight of the fatigue-wearing men carrying AR-15 rifles who descended…

Alex Yablon

Gun violence journalism that informs and empowers.

Alex Yablon

The Extraordinary Burden Placed on Sutherland Springs

Here’s the Document That Should Have Prevented Devin Kelley From Buying Guns

UPDATE: Clarifying Our Reporting on the Military, Domestic Violence Records, and Gun Background Checks

The End of DNAinfo and Gothamist Is a Loss for Local Coverage of Gun Violence

ATF to Chicago: Your Release of Detailed Crime Gun Data Was Prohibited Under Federal Law

NRA Picks Fight With Parents Who Called for Gun-Free Halloween Costumes

“White Lives Matter” Rallies Have Tennessee Towns Scrambling to Restrict Guns

At Least 2,900 Americans Have Been Shot Since Las Vegas. Congress Has Already Lost Interest.

White Nationalists Arrested for Shooting Into Crowd After Richard Spencer Speech in Florida

Looser Concealed-Carry Standards Are Linked to Higher Gun-Homicide Rates

The NRA’s Gun Safety Program for Children Is Ineffective, Government Review Finds

Amid Rise in Burglaries of Gun Stores, California’s Governor Vetoes Anti-Theft Bill

These Six Barely Legal Gun Products Are Still Widely Available

Arkansas Bust Is Latest Example of Right-Wing Extremists Arrested for Violating Gun Laws

Charlottesville Sues to Keep Out Militias and Armed White Nationalists